Tuesday, January 29, 2008

In my last post I wrote about efforts by the Spanish authorities to put Abdelilah Hriz on trial as a material author of the Madrid bombings. It now seems as if the Moroccan authorities have agreed to take action against Hriz - extradition is not permitted but he can be tried on Moroccan soil for crimes committed in Spain. Genetic traces matching the DNA of Hriz were found in the ruins of the apartment in Leganés where the nucleus of the group responsible for the bombings blew themselves up on the 3rd April 2004.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Whilst the appeals following the sentence in the train bombings trial are now pending, it is worth recalling that there are still some accused of participation in the attack who have not yet faced trial. One of these, Moutaz Almallah Dabas, is being held on remand in Spain following his extradition from the United Kingdom last year. He is the brother of Mouhannad Almallah Dabas, who was one of those convicted in the main trial.

There is now concern about the delay in bringing Almallah Dabas to trial for his part in the bombings. This is because he has already been held in prison for around 3 years if the period in the UK is included too, and Spanish law does not permit anyone to be held for longer than 4 years if they have not been convicted of an offence within that period. So it seems quite likely that the trial of Almallah Dabas will be held reasonably soon to try and avoid a situation where he must be released from prison.

There are also international detention orders in force against Abdelilah Hriz (accused of being one of those who actively participated in the attack as a material author), and Hicham Ahmidan (accused of being part of the terrorist cell). Both of these are Morrocan citizens and are both currently in Morocco itself. This country does not extradite its citizens to Spain, so the Spanish authorities are attempting to persuade the Moroccan authorities to try them there for crimes committed on Spanish soil. In the meantime, the international orders remain in force in case either of the 2 men travels outside of Morocco.